Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar has returned to the national team in the ODI format after a very long gap. But in the space of two appearances, he made the comeback a memorable one with a knock of 169 in the second ODI against New Zealand in the ongoing series. He hit 22 fours and two sixes during the record-breaking knock to help Bangladesh post 291 runs on the board.
With his score of 169, Sarkar now has the highest score by the Indian subcontinent nation in ODI matches in New Zealand surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 163 which he scored against the New Zealanders in 2009 in Christchurch. He scored those knocks off 133 balls with 16 fours and five sixes before retiring. Moreover, his knock pushed India to 392 runs in 50 overs and, more importantly, the Men in Blue ended up winning the match by 58 runs.
Unfortunately, for Soumya Sarkar, his 169-run knock went in vain as Bangladesh fell behind by seven wickets in defense of 291 all out. The second highest scorer for the visitors in this match after Sarkar was Mushfiqur Rahim with 45 goals and that played a part in them not registering an even total on the board.
Will Young and Henry Nicholls smashed half-centuries while even the other batsmen contributed enough to take New Zealand over the line in the run chase. They reached the target in less than 47 overs, and the win also settled the series in favor of the New Zealanders. They won the rain-soaked series opener by 44 runs as the match was reduced to 30 runs per side and Bangladesh failed to chase down the target.
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